


A Fox's Tale

by DashFlintceschi



Series: Mythological Creatures Alphabet Challenge [11]
Category: Bring Me The Horizon, You Me At Six
Genre: M/M, dan's not pleased, josh imprints on him, josh is a fox thing, tom rescues him
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-15
Updated: 2014-12-15
Packaged: 2018-03-01 15:04:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,348
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2777561
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DashFlintceschi/pseuds/DashFlintceschi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tom hears a strange noise while walking Oskar in the woods.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Fox's Tale

**Author's Note:**

> K is for Kitsune.

Tom’s walking his brother’s dog in the woods when he hears it. A weak, pitiful whine from somewhere to his left. He calls Oskar back to him and clips his lead back onto his collar before he goes in search of the noise. The last thing he needs is an injured animal attacking either of them because Oskar got too close. He doesn’t have to go far to find it, a small, dark brown and white fox, lying in the undergrowth, mewling helplessly, and as Tom creeps closer, he realises why.

He can’t help himself as he rushes forward, cooing softly to the poor thing as he takes a good look at the leg-hold trap clenched around it’s back leg. He’s positioned to jump back quickly if he needs to, fully expecting it to panic and lash out at him, but it just lies there and watches him with sad eyes as he eases the trap open to free it’s leg. As he does, he takes a good look at it and realises how thin it is, wondering sadly to himself how long it’s been trapped here. Once it’s leg is free, Tom closes the trap back over before he throws it to the side, so nothing else will get trapped in it.

The fox has made no attempts to move, and Tom realises it’s either too badly injured, or too starved to move, or both. He sighs and reaches out to it.

“Alright, let’s make a deal, I won’t hurt you, if you don’t hurt me, yeah?” He bargains as he gently slides his hands underneath it and lifts it into his arms. As he lifts it, though, he gasps at the realisation of why it hasn’t lashed out at him. It’s nine full, bushy tails reveal it to be not a fox, but a Kitsune, a supposedly mythical creature that’s both fox and human.

He walks quickly, admonishing Oskar a few times for jumping up to try and get a good sniff at the Kitsune. When he gets home, he lets Oskar off his leash and shoos him. He goes straight to the kitchen, and gently deposits the Kitsune onto the table in front of Dan, who’s a vet.

“Help him,” is all he says, then sits down and stares at him expectantly. Dan moves to do as asked, but stops and gapes as he takes in the tails.

“It can’t be… Even if they were real, why would it be here? It’s a Japanese myth,” Dan mumbles, but still gently takes its injured left back leg in his hands and examines it. He hums to himself, then looks up. “There’s nothing I can do, other than splint and bandage it, and keep him warm, comfortable and well fed until it heals on its own,” he pauses, then turns to address the animal in front of him. “Which would be a lot easier if you could change forms, if you are what I think you are,” he adds, frowning in surprise as the animal shakes its head in reply.

Once Dan’s done all he can for the creature, he carefully scoops it up into his arms and carries it to the living room, depositing it onto a large, fluffy bed that had been bought for Oskar, but he’s never used. Once the Kitsune’s finished eating the meal Tom sat in front of it, he takes the bowl away and replaces it with a Ouija board.

“Do you think you could tell us your name?” Tom asks softly, and the creature shifts forward, studies the board for a few seconds, looking for the letters it needs, then reaches out with its paw, tapping on the letters in order. “J-O-S-H. Alright, your name’s Josh. Why can’t you change forms?” Tom wonders, and again, Josh taps out his answer on the board. ‘My injuries have greatly weakened me. I don’t have the energy to shift forms.’ Tom has to get Josh to repeat it a few times, eventually resorting to writing down each letter on a notepad as he taps on them, before he gets it right.

Tom nods, rubbing Josh’s ear comfortingly.

“Alright, makes sense, I guess. Well, just relax here, and… Make whatever the hell noise foxes make if you need anything, and just focus on getting better, alright?” Tom tells him, ruffling the fur on his head and getting up, quickly pushing Oskar back with his foot. “And don’t let this little nightmare bother you, either,” he adds, picking up Oskar as he continues trying to get to Josh and walking away with him.

It takes about a week for Josh to regain enough strength to shift forms. When he does, they’ve almost forgotten what he is, so they all jump and eye him suspiciously as he limps into the kitchen, wearing the loose pyjamas and hoodie Jordan had left next to his bed for him. It’s only when he moves a certain way, and his tails fanned out against his back become visible that they realise. 

Once he’s settled at the table with a mug of tea, his injured leg resting on Oli’s lap, Dan decides to ask.

“Kitsune’s are a Japanese myth, you’re clearly not Japanese,” he comments, and Josh laughs.

“The majority of Japanese are Buddhists, they tend to be the only ones we feel we can reveal ourselves to without fear of being murdered or vivisected,” Josh replies, and Dan nods, fully agreeing, most people kill things they don’t understand.

“Well, you don’t need to worry, you’re safe with us. I’ll go set up a spare room for-” Tom cuts off as he goes to stand, and Josh grabs his arm to stop him. When he realises he’s done it, he pulls his hand away with a sheepish look. There’s an awkward silence for a few minutes, then Tom huffs. “Don’t think you’re getting away without explaining that one,” he huffs, and Josh sighs.

“My kind have this thing, it’s called imprinting. Basically, I imprinted on you without meaning to, so I’m quite… Attached to you now,” he explains, his eyes going wide at the distrustful, angry look Dan gives him, and he hastens to explain. “No, no, it’s not a sexual thing! I’m not trying to take him away from you, I swear! It’s a platonic thing, the only thing I could liken it to is the way pets get attached to their owners, and start thinking of them as a part of their pack,” he rushes out, and Dan relaxes with a nod.

“Alright, so… What does it mean for you, then, if you’ve imprinted on him?” He asks, and Josh seems to shrink as he curls in on himself.

“I never meant to be a burden…” he whispers, and they frown at him in confusion until he sighs. “If I spend more than a few hours away from him, I’ll die,” he explains softly, and Tom and Dan have a silent conversation over his head. They both nod, and Tom squeezes Josh’s shoulder.

“We’d better get you some clothes of your own, then, hadn’t we?”

They get him sorted out with clothes and set up the spare bedroom for him, which he’s grateful for, excessively so, in their opinion. Despite that, just after one in the morning, Dan; who’s a light sleeper, despite his own cacophonous snoring, is woken up by their bedroom door opening, and the soft click of nails on the floor, before a small body lands on the bed and settles between his feet and Tom’s. He sits up, expecting Oskar, but sighs and accepts the slightly larger brown and white body and long bushy tails he sees instead. It’s a good thing, too, because from then on, Josh can’t help but crawl onto their bed and lie between their feet every night, his head resting gently on Tom’s calf, his tails draped over Dan’s ankles. And he really can’t believe his amazing luck, but he’s not going to push it, he’s happy with what he has. Even if it does mean putting up with Oskar.


End file.
